.png)
OUR STORY
Wands for Wildlife began as a program at Appalachian Wildlife Refuge and grew into an organization with a global reach. It started with a social media post asking for used mascara wands to help in wildlife rehabilitation. The first wands were received within days of the post. At the beginning of 2020, plans began to turn the Wands for Wildlife program into a nonprofit. As the global pandemic spread, a small team of dedicated volunteers bravely pushed ahead and celebrated the establishment of the organization on June 29, 2020.
Wands for Wildlife has been featured in Oprah Magazine, Good Housekeeping and People Magazine to name a few. Videos on large social media channels have been viewed millions of times and the hashtag #wandsforwildlife continues to trend. The viral momentum brought in over 1.5 million wands, showing that people around the world want accessible ways to participate in conservation efforts to help wildlife and the environment. The act of recycling brushes is a personal, tangible step toward sustainability that opens the door to bigger, more impactful action.
In 2023, supply of repurposed mascara brushes began to far exceed demand from wildlife rehab settings, so Wands for Wildlife decided to pivot their efforts to provide more direct support to Wildlife Rehabilitators. While mascara brush kits continue to be sent out to requesting wildlife rehabilitators around the world, we are reaching beyond the brush to facilitate wildlife rehabilitation efforts. Licensed wildlife rehabilitators are seeing increasing numbers of patient intakes and are in need of supplies more than ever to continue their important work; we want to help.
.png)
.png)